Funky place to store your fuel?

[BllFs6]

Hi all...

Was doing a little web reading on part 103 Ultralights (both gyro's and more
conventional winged thingys).....

And it quickly becomes obvious that staying under that 250 pound or so limit
aint easy...

So, so the gas tanks (like everything else on an ultralight) doesn' t really
inspire confidence from a strength point of view.....and those extra pounds to
make the tank to hold the gas are just that many more pounds you have to give
up somewhere else.

And I've notice that some gyro's and other ultralights have relatively large
hollow metal tubes that form a "backbone" to which all the other important
parts are attached....

So, my question is......could you actually USE these tubes as your gas tank to
hold your precious 5 gallons of fuel (part 103 limit)?

Anybody anywhere tried that that you know of?

Could you prevent internal corrosion in aluminum (or even steel) tubing? With
perhaps some sacrificial internal metal ( like the zinc blocks they put on
boats). And maybe make sure there is NO place for water to seperate out and
settle, or if there is, its at a place of minimal stress on the structure, or
perhaps is even a little seperate offshoot "tube" that is not load bearing in
any fashion.

Flame away :)

take care

Blll

[jc]

BllFs6 wrote:

<snip>

> So, my question is......could you actually USE these tubes as your gas
> tank to hold your precious 5 gallons of fuel (part 103 limit)?

Years ago in Oz you could get steel backpack frames which held (usually)
kerosene (or shellite/white gasoline) for stoves. IIRC corrosion wasn't an
issue for a few years and they were probably subjected to more impact loads
then airframes normally are.

--

regards

jc

LEGAL - I don't believe what I wrote and neither should you. Sobriety and/or
sanity of the author is not guaranteed

EMAIL - and are not valid email
addresses. news2x at perentie is valid for a while.

[John Kimmel]

The Grumman AA-1 stores fuel in a tubular wing spar.

BllFs6 wrote:
> Hi all...
>
> Was doing a little web reading on part 103 Ultralights (both gyro's and more
> conventional winged thingys).....
>
> And it quickly becomes obvious that staying under that 250 pound or so limit
> aint easy...
>
> So, so the gas tanks (like everything else on an ultralight) doesn' t really
> inspire confidence from a strength point of view.....and those extra pounds to
> make the tank to hold the gas are just that many more pounds you have to give
> up somewhere else.
>
> And I've notice that some gyro's and other ultralights have relatively large
> hollow metal tubes that form a "backbone" to which all the other important
> parts are attached....
>
> So, my question is......could you actually USE these tubes as your gas tank to
> hold your precious 5 gallons of fuel (part 103 limit)?
>
> Anybody anywhere tried that that you know of?
>
> Could you prevent internal corrosion in aluminum (or even steel) tubing? With
> perhaps some sacrificial internal metal ( like the zinc blocks they put on
> boats). And maybe make sure there is NO place for water to seperate out and
> settle, or if there is, its at a place of minimal stress on the structure, or
> perhaps is even a little seperate offshoot "tube" that is not load bearing in
> any fashion.
>
> Flame away :)
>
> take care
>
> Blll

--
John Kimmel


"Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum." - When you have
their full attention in your grip, their hearts and minds will follow.

[Ron Webb]

There are motorcycles that use the structural tubing as pipes to get the
coolant from engine to radiator. Older GSX-R 750s come to mind.


"BllFs6" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all...
>
> Was doing a little web reading on part 103 Ultralights (both gyro's and
more
> conventional winged thingys).....
>
> And it quickly becomes obvious that staying under that 250 pound or so
limit
> aint easy...
>
> So, so the gas tanks (like everything else on an ultralight) doesn' t
really
> inspire confidence from a strength point of view.....and those extra
pounds to
> make the tank to hold the gas are just that many more pounds you have to
give
> up somewhere else.
>
> And I've notice that some gyro's and other ultralights have relatively
large
> hollow metal tubes that form a "backbone" to which all the other important
> parts are attached....
>
> So, my question is......could you actually USE these tubes as your gas
tank to
> hold your precious 5 gallons of fuel (part 103 limit)?
>
> Anybody anywhere tried that that you know of?
>
> Could you prevent internal corrosion in aluminum (or even steel) tubing?
With
> perhaps some sacrificial internal metal ( like the zinc blocks they put on
> boats). And maybe make sure there is NO place for water to seperate out
and
> settle, or if there is, its at a place of minimal stress on the structure,
or
> perhaps is even a little seperate offshoot "tube" that is not load bearing
in
> any fashion.
>
> Flame away :)
>
> take care
>
> Blll

[Jay]

You usually put fuel near the center of lift so that as the fuel burns
off the balance of the aircraft doesn't change. This is part of the
reason they taught ww2 fighter pilot to aim for the intersection of
the fuselage and the wings, thats "bingo" fuel.

Hollow wing spars might be a good funky place as others have
mentioned. The additional benefit of storing in the wings is that the
fuel weight doesn't count against your bending loads at the wing roots
like your butt sitting in a seat does.

(BllFs6) wrote in message >...
> Hi all...
>
> Was doing a little web reading on part 103 Ultralights (both gyro's and more
> conventional winged thingys).....
>
> And it quickly becomes obvious that staying under that 250 pound or so limit
> aint easy...
>
> So, so the gas tanks (like everything else on an ultralight) doesn' t really
> inspire confidence from a strength point of view.....and those extra pounds to
> make the tank to hold the gas are just that many more pounds you have to give
> up somewhere else.
>
> And I've notice that some gyro's and other ultralights have relatively large
> hollow metal tubes that form a "backbone" to which all the other important
> parts are attached....
>
> So, my question is......could you actually USE these tubes as your gas tank to
> hold your precious 5 gallons of fuel (part 103 limit)?
>
> Anybody anywhere tried that that you know of?
>
> Could you prevent internal corrosion in aluminum (or even steel) tubing? With
> perhaps some sacrificial internal metal ( like the zinc blocks they put on
> boats). And maybe make sure there is NO place for water to seperate out and
> settle, or if there is, its at a place of minimal stress on the structure, or
> perhaps is even a little seperate offshoot "tube" that is not load bearing in
> any fashion.
>
> Flame away :)
>
> take care
>
> Blll

[Blueskies]

A lot of airliners store fuel in the horizontal tail...

"Jay" > wrote in message om...
> You usually put fuel near the center of lift so that as the fuel burns
> off the balance of the aircraft doesn't change. This is part of the
> reason they taught ww2 fighter pilot to aim for the intersection of
> the fuselage and the wings, thats "bingo" fuel.
>
> Hollow wing spars might be a good funky place as others have
> mentioned. The additional benefit of storing in the wings is that the
> fuel weight doesn't count against your bending loads at the wing roots
> like your butt sitting in a seat does.
>
> (BllFs6) wrote in message >...
> > Hi all...
> >
> > Was doing a little web reading on part 103 Ultralights (both gyro's and more
> > conventional winged thingys).....
> >
> > And it quickly becomes obvious that staying under that 250 pound or so limit
> > aint easy...
> >
> > So, so the gas tanks (like everything else on an ultralight) doesn' t really
> > inspire confidence from a strength point of view.....and those extra pounds to
> > make the tank to hold the gas are just that many more pounds you have to give
> > up somewhere else.
> >
> > And I've notice that some gyro's and other ultralights have relatively large
> > hollow metal tubes that form a "backbone" to which all the other important
> > parts are attached....
> >
> > So, my question is......could you actually USE these tubes as your gas tank to
> > hold your precious 5 gallons of fuel (part 103 limit)?
> >
> > Anybody anywhere tried that that you know of?
> >
> > Could you prevent internal corrosion in aluminum (or even steel) tubing? With
> > perhaps some sacrificial internal metal ( like the zinc blocks they put on
> > boats). And maybe make sure there is NO place for water to seperate out and
> > settle, or if there is, its at a place of minimal stress on the structure, or
> > perhaps is even a little seperate offshoot "tube" that is not load bearing in
> > any fashion.
> >
> > Flame away :)
> >
> > take care
> >
> > Blll